The Sri Lankan government has indicated that it may ban the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) once again, considering the stormy political developments in the Sinhala south and the stepped-up war against the armed movement in the north.

 

A ban on the LTTE will rule out the possibility of any negotiations to end the protracted conflict as the Tigers have consistently refused to talk whilst they are deemed outlaws.

UNHCR expressed its ‘grave concerns’ on the deteriorating security situation and various incidents reported from areas in the eastern Sri Lanka, including incidents of involuntary return of displaced people.

 

“UNHCR has received reports of a number of killings, abductions, incidents of harassment and general insecurity in these areas,” said UNHCR spokesperson, Jennifer Pagonis, at today's Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva.

 

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The Tamils Rehabilitation Organisations (TRO) has condemned the Sri Lankan government’s banning of the charity, saying the Rajapakse regime had done so with the “ulterior motive of unleashing untold hardships on the Tamil people as part of ][the government’s] continuing discrimination and oppression of the Tamil people.”

 

The TRO, which has been the largest - and for long periods the sole - NGO assisting the hundreds of thousands of Tamils displaced by the confli

It is with dismay that Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) learns of the actions of the Untied States Department of the Treasury under Executive Order 13224.

 

TRO reiterates that we are a local NGO providing humanitarian relief, reconstruction, rehabilitation and development to tsunami and war affected persons and NOT a "front to facilitate fundraising and procurement for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)".

Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National party (UNP) has welcomed the government’s decision to ban the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), the Daily Mirror reported Friday. The UNP echoed the stance of the ultra-Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) with senior UNP official, Lakshman Kiriella, also telling a news conference that the government had failed to pursue the matter with commitment.

The United States last week moved to freeze the US-held assets of the largest Tamil charity, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), accusing it of acting as a front to facilitate fundraising and procurement for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

 

The TRO, the largest local Non Governmental Organisation assisting the Tamil population in Sri Lanka’s Northeast, vigorously protested the action by the US Treasury, pointing out that no wrong doing, misa

Sri Lanka’s largest political party has condemned the US action to freeze the US-based accounts of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) saying Washington was deepening the plight of the Tamil people.

 

“While the Government of Sri Lanka has imposed an effective economic embargo in Vanni, and the sustained bombardments of Sri Lanka Military have made situation difficult for International Non-Governmental Organizations to work amidst the affected local reside

"We tried our best to convince the International Community of our grievances. We are a small nation, struggling all alone to uphold our rights. But the International Community in an uneven judgement in applying its norms, scaled us with Sri Lankan government abounding with military and economic resources. The scale was not fair.

Reacting defiantly to decisions by Sri Lanka and the United States to ban it, the leading Tamil charity in the island, the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation, vowed to continue its founding mission to help the victims of the Sinhala government’s military campaign and called on Tamils around the world to support its work.

 

“We assure you that our mission will continue in our homeland areas without interruption and we call on the international community and the Tam

European Union countries urged the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo on Monday not to rush into a declaration of independence, but seek consensus in the international community.

 

But the Serbian government is preparing for a declaration of independence by Kosovo in case talks on the province's future fail to reach a compromise.

 

The southern province is formally part of Serbia, but it has been run by the United Nations and NATO sinc

The Liberation Tigers Friday said they had repulsed two offensives by Sri Lankan security forces in Mannar district, in northern Sri Lanka, inflicting heavy casualties.

A top United Nations official last week charged the Sri Lankan government with inability to rein in "widespread torture practised by security forces" against the Tamil population in the island.